Safety counter bill file



March 12, 1929. F ONEIL 1,705,306

SAFETY COUNTER BILL FILE Filed Jan. 14, 1928 I I INVENT'OR Reufien I'wuu'is Owed ATTORN EY Patented Mar. 12, 1929.

UNITED STATES stir crates.

REUBEN FRANCIS oNErn, or OAKLAND, onnrronnm.

SAFETY COUNTER BILL FILE.-

Application filed January 14, 1328. Serial No. 246,868.

ing the point of the spike in such a manner as to prevent any personalinjury being done to any employee or any patron of the place of businessin which the file is located, while at the same time allowing bills andthe like to r be applied in the usual way to the file by pres.-

ing said papers down upon the spike.

Essentially the protecting means comprises a guard normally disposeddirectly above and spaced a short distance from the point of the spike.A further object of my invention is to support this guard in such amanner that it may be shifted laterally clear of the spike so as toenable any number of bills on the file to be removed simultaneously ifdesired, or moved down to envelop the point of the spike.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposefor which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation elevation of my improved bill fileshowing the parts in their normal positions.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the file showing the cover plateremoved.

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary section showing the point protector or guardlowered over the plate.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the support or base of the device is a circular membercomprising a top plate 1 from which aside flange 2 depends all aroundthe same to a certain depth so as to provide a chamber under the plateabove the counteror table on which the flange rests.

A vertical rod 3 projects upwardly from the plate 1 adjacent one edgeand at its lower end is fixed in a pedestal 4t turnably mounted in theplate 1. At its upper end this rod is bent to extend substantiallyhorizontal'for a certain distance as shown at 5, this bent portion atits outer end terminating in a downwardly depending threaded stem 6.This stem is normaLy in vertical alinementwith and spaced from a spikemember 7 which at its lower end is secured in the plate 1 in diametrallyopposed relation to the rod Threaded on to the stem is a guard sleeve 8,whose vertical movement in either direction on the stem is,

limited b 1 QHlHI GD'IQRt-S 9 on the o oosite ends of the stem. Theseparts areso arranged that when the guard is at its upper limit ofmovement, the space between the bottom of the guard and the point of thespike is sufficient to permit of the impaling of bills, etc, on thespike as shown in Fig. l but is not sufiicient to permit of a finger ofthe operator passing therebetween. When the guard is lowered to itslimit of downward movement, it extends below and is disposed about thepoint of the spike somewhat as shown in Fig. 4.

It will therefore be seen that when the guard is in the first describedposition any papers may be readily placed on the spike while at the sametime the point is covered from above so that there is no danger of itscontacting with the hands, finger, or any other portion of the anatomyof any person accidentally coming against the file. When the guard islowered the papers are positively prevented from being removed.

Secured to and projecting radially from the pedestal 4t under the plateis an arm 10 which extends towards the opposite edge of the plate. Atthe outer end of the arm an upstanding finger or thumb knob 11 is fixed,this knob projectin up through a slot 12 cut in the plate and curvedconcentric with the pedestal, said slot having an arcuate length ofabout 90. A spiral spring 13 is disposed under the plate and isconnected one end to the arm and at the other end to the base and actsto maintain the knob on the arm at one end of the slot, in whichposition the guard 8 is concentrically alined with the spike. It willtherefore be seen that by moving the knob to the opposite end of theslot, the rod 3 and the parts connected thereto will be turned through a90 arc, so that the guard will then be moved clear of the spike and anyor all of the bills impaled on the spike may be readily withdrawn as aunit from the spike. knob is released the guard will automatically Whenthe holding pressure on the the present and preferred construction ofthe device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may beresorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention,as defined by the appended claims. I

Having thus described my invention What I-clai'm as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bill file including a spike men'rber on which to impale bills, aguard cap disposed in line With the spike, and a threaded stem on whichthe cap is adjustably screwed; said stem being disposed in longitudinala'linement with the spike and spaced from the point there-oi apredetermineddistance.

2. A bill file including a spike member on which to impale bills, aguard normally in line with the spike and beyond the point thereof, andmovable means rigidly supporting the guard to enable the same to bemoved laterally with regard to the spike.

3'.- A b'illfile' including a spike member on which to impale bills, aguard beyond and spaced from the point of the spike, a movable membersupporting the guard and means applied to said member for normallymaintaining the guard in longitudinal alinement with the spike Whileenabling said guard to be moved laterally with respect to the spike.

4. A bill file including a. spike member on Which to impale bills, aguard beyond and spaced from the point of the spike, a movable membersupporting the guard and including a turnable element disposed parallelto the spike, means for turning said element, and means applied to theturning means for nor iii-ally maintaining the guard in longitudinalalinement with the spike.

5. A bill file including a spike member on which to impale the bills aguard beyond and spaced from the point of the spike, a movable membersupporting the guard and including a turnaible' element disposedparallel to the spike, a common base member in which the spike andelement are mounterhan operating arm applied to said element, n'icansbetween the arm and base for limiting the are of turning increment ofsaid element, and spring means for holding said element at one end ofsuch arc, the guard being then longitudinally alined with the spike.

6'; A bill file including a spike member on which to impale the bills, agua d beyond and spaced from the JOlIl'li of the spii-ze, a movablemember supporting the guaro and including a turnable element disposedparallel to the spike, a common base member in Whichthe spike andelement are i-nounted in spaced relation to each other; said base havinga top plate with a chamber thereunder, an operating arm connected to andextending. radially from said element under the plate, knob projectingfrom the outer end of the arm through a slot in the plate curvedconcentric With said element, and a spring acting toyieldably hold theknob at one end of the slot; the guard being then in longitudinala-lineinent with the spike.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

tE-UBEN FRANCIS ONETL.

